Apparatus for stacking sheet material



y 1952 T. TORQNTO 2,596,448

APPARATUS FOR STACKING SHEET MATERIAL Filed March 5, 1946 2 SHEET$-SHEET l INVENTOR THOMAS TOR0/vT0 E X L TTORNEY May 13, 1952 T. TORONTO APPARATUS FOR STACKING SHEET MATERIAL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 5, 1946 lNVEN TOR T HOMA5 Ta/m/v T0 BY ATTO R NEY Patented May 13, 1952 APPARATUS FOR STACKING SHEET MATERIAL Thomas Toronto, Grand View, N. Y., assignor to Robert Gair Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 5, 1946, Serial No. 652,126

The present invention relates to apparatus for facilitating accurate stacking of sheets of paperboard and the like as they are ejected from a cutting and creasing press. More particularly, it relates to the accurate stacking of such paperboard sheets in a manner to assure that the cuts and creases therein shall be in accurate vertical alignment irrespective of such irregularities as may exist in the edges of the sheets.

In the manufacture of many forms of paperboard boxes, appropriate cutting and scoring is formed in flat sheets of rectangular outline. There may be a single blank in each sheet as in the case of large boxes, or there may be a plurality of blanks for small boxes. In any event, they are laid out in such a manner as to secure maximum efficiency with regard to the use of paperboard. The individual blanks are not cut entirely free of the sheet, and stand ard practice in this respect is to form appropriately spaced nicks in the cutting blades of the creasing and cutting press whereby to leave very small bridges of paperboard extending across the cuts.

Usually the blanks formed in a sheet are so arranged as to leave a narrow margin of waste material extending continuously around the sheet. It will be appreciated that other waste sections lie between the various parts of the blank or blanks and that all of this waste material must be removed prior to completion of the boxes. To this end a large number of sheets is usually stacked upon a skid and an operator separates the waste from the box blanks by an operation called stripping.

Until recently the stripping operation was performed by the use of hand hammers of appropriate shape. This hand stripping operation 2 Claims. (Cl. 271--89) is now being supplanted in many instances by air hammer stripping wherein use is made of vibratory hammers equipped with chisel-like bits. In such operation the bit is inserted into a cut in the uppermost sheet within the stack and the hammer is then operated to strip'the waste from the blanks in the successive sheets downwardly of the stack.

In order to secure the full advantage of air hammer stripping it is desirable to operate on stacks of sheets of the maximum height to which the air hammer may be conveniently lifted. In practice the height of the stacks is approximately forty inches and such height is well within the capacity of the stacking mechanism usually associated with a cutting and creasing press. However, it has been found that the ordinary stacking mechanism, which operates with suflicient accuracy for hand hammer stripping, is incapable of stacking the sheets with sufiicient accuracy for air hammer stripping. Accordingly it has been necessary to employ operators either to true up the edges of the stack as it builds up at the press, or to restack the sheets prior to stripping.

It will be apparent that in air hammer stripping accurate alignment of the blanks in the sheets is of critical importance. Substantially every blank which happens to be even slightly out of position will be ruined. The hand stacking operations described above are only partially effective inasmuch as it is only the outside or waste edges of the sheets which may be aligned. The cuts defining the box blanks do not necessarily bear a fixed relationship to the outside edges of the sheets and the waste margins are thus irregular in width. This is because the sheets are first blanked out and fed manually or automatically to the press and there is nothing short of incurring prohibitive costs to assure accuracy in any of these operations. For this same reason the edge joggers frequency employed in printing presses and envelope machines, for example, would be of little value in the solution of the present problem.

It is an object of the present invention to provide alignment means integral with a paperboard sheet having a readily severable blank or blanks cut therein, the position of said alignment means being accurately related to the position of the cuts defining the blank or blanks in said sheet.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a paperboard sheet having a readily severable blank or blanks cut therein and alignment notches cut therein in accurate positional relationship to said blank or blanks.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide automatic aligning mechanism for cooperation with sheet material having alignmentnotches cut therein.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide automatic jogging mechanism for association with the stacking devices of a cutting and creasing press to jog paperboard sheets discharged from said press into accurate vertical alignment with respect to the cuts therein and irrespective of the outer edges thereof.

Other and further objects will become apparent upon a consideration of the following de tailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in connection with the V creasing press (not shown).

drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail viewof one of the jogger heads showing its operative: relationship with a stack of notched sheets; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, there is. shown a stacking device with which is associated the jogging mechanism of they present invention. Many features of the stacking device are con ventional in the art, and it Will be understood that for purposes of illustration, only one of the various types of stacking mechanism has. been: se-

lected for illustration of my invention. Obviously, the invention may be adapted to any conventional form of stacking device.

lever 50 freely pivoted upon the shaft 42. V A link 52 connects the outer end of the pawl lever 50 to an arm 54 of a bell crank 56 secured to a rock shaft 58 extending across the machine and pivoted in the rails l2 and I4. Another arm 6b of the bell crank 56 has connected to it a link 62 which is connected to a suitable oscillating or rotating part in the cutting and creasing press.

Preferably; the link 62 is connected to a part in the cutting and creasing press which oscillates or rotates once for each operation of the press. The bell. crank. 56 thus will rock once for each operation of the press, and the pawl 48 will impart a suitable increment of rotation to the shafts 42, 20- and 24-. The parts are so proportioned' that each incremental rotation of these shafts will result in a lowering of the skid I8 through. a. distance substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet of paperboard ejected from the" cutting and creasing press upon each operation thereof.

The stacking deviceincludesamain frame work having legs fil joined by side" rails t2 and i4 and a rear rail Hi. The side rails I 2 and: F t are broken away in Figs. 1 and 2', but it wiil' be understood that these rails extend forward intoengagement with'the framework of Lat-cutting and conventional cutting and creasing press may beused. It ispreferred to take the power for operation of certain movable parts in the stackingdevice in the jogging device of my invention from suitable points in the cutting and creasing press.

Other than this, and the fact that the stacking device must of course be so positioned with regard to the discharge end of the cutting and creasing press as to receive the paperboard sheets therefrom, the device of my invention is inon way dependent upon the particular design of the cutting and creasing press.

The stacking device is arranged to supporta. conventional skid l8 in position to recr-iiv'e the cut and creased sheets. The skid is supported in such manner that at the beginning of" opera-= tion it is carried at a relatively high level and as stacking proceeds, the skid is progressively lowered at such a rate as to maintain substan tially a uniform level at the top of the stack. Any suitable mechanism may' beemployed for this purpose and in the stacking device herein illustrated, this mechanism comprises a shaft 20' carried in suitable bearings 22 on the side rail i2 and a similar shaft 24 carried inbearings 28' on the side rail M. The shafts 20 and 24" are provided with winding drums 28 and 30, respectively, which receive chains 32 and 3 4', respectively; At their lower ends the chains 32 and 34 carry releasable hooks 36', the hooks on the chains 32 being shown in Fig. l'. The hooks 38' engage opposite ends of I-beams 38 which extend beneath the skid l8. r

The shafts 2i] and 24 carry at their rearward ends worm-wheels 40 which engage with wormears secured near each of the ends of a cross shaft 42 extending beneath the rear rail I5 The Worm gear 44 which engages the worm wheel 40 on theshaft 20 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. I. It will be understood that-the worm gears 44 and worm wheels 49 are so arranged as to provide for rotation of the shafts 2'0 and 24 at the same angular speed and in opposite angular directions. 7

At its left-hand end beyond the worm gear 44 the shaft 42 has secured theretoaratchet wheel 46 which is engaged by a pawl 48 carried on a Atthe righthand'end asiseen inFig. 2', the shaft 42 carries a: hand wheel 6'4 which may be' operated to bring the empty skid up to proper level for the beginning of operation and which may be opeifat'edf; to. make such. adjustments in level as may be: necessar during the stacking operation- All. or the mechanism. thus far described is conventional in. nature and, except for its cooperation therewith, forms no part of my invention. Y

The jogging. mechanism of. the present invention generally comprises wedge-shaped jogging heads at least some of which reciprocate into and out of seating relationship with V'-shaped notches cut in opposed margins of the paperboard sheets. These heads maybe so arranged as to enter and leave the: notches at any frequency desired, and

to operate: simultaneously and repeatedly upon the several paperboard sheets uppermost upon the: stack at any given time. This operation will place the apices of. the notches in successive sheets in exact registry. Thus, provided that the notches bear exact positional relationship to the blank or blanks in the sheets, the blanks will be similarly registered.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, a cross bar 6E having: brackets 68 at opposite ends thereof is adjustably' secured by means of setscrews 10 to theside: rails l2 and M. The crossbar 66 carries a pair of jogging heads 72. The heads T2 and the manner in which they are secured to the cross-bar Stare illustrated in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. These heads 12 may be identical in these respects to the remaining heads in the device, and a detailed description will be made cniy in. connection with the heads T2.

As shown in Fig. 3, the jogging head 12' comprisesanelongated body made of metal or other suitable material having converging faces 14 disposed at such an angle to each other as to define a wedge having a vertically disposed knife- Ii'ke edge as shown in cross section in Fig. 4. At its upper end the head 12 may be flared outwardly' as indicated at I6 for the purpose of facilitating entry of the paperboard sheets between the various heads provided in the device. The head 12 is secured to the cross-bar 66 by means of a set-screw 18 threadedly received in a strap 8!! which is in turn secured to the head 12 as by T2" are fixed in adjusted position in the embodi-' ment of the invention chosen for illustration although it will be understood as description of the device proceeds that the heads I2 may be mounted for reciprocation if so desired. In the present embodiment reciprocable jogging heads are provided for the three remaining edges of the paperboard sheets.

The cross shaft 58, shown only in Fig. 1, has secured for rotation therewith a pair of downwardly extending arms 84, one of which is shown in Fig. 1. The arms 84 are located respectively adjacent the side rails I2 and I4 and are pivotally connected at their lower ends to a pair of links 86 located on opposite sides of the machine.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be observed that the links 86 are joined to one another by a crossbar 88 similar in cross-section to the bar 06 shown in Fig. 3. The cross-bar 88 carries a pair of jogging heads 80 which are adjustable therealong and are preferably identical to the jogging heads I2. At its opposite ends the cross-bar 88 is adjustably secured to the links 86 in order that it may be moved relatively thereto in a direction fore and aft of the machine. For this purpose suitable releasable gripping devices 92 are provided for connecting the ends of the cross-bar B8 to the links 86.

The links 86 extend through suitable sliding bearings 94 carried respectively by the side rails I2 and I4 and are pivotally connected at their ends to inwardly directed arms 96 of a pair of oppositely disposed bell cranks 98. The bell cranks 98 are located respectively beneath the side rails I2 and I4 and are pivoted on suitable studs I depending therefrom (see Fig. 1).

The arms I02 of the bell cranks 08 may have rounded end portions which are received in yokelocks I04 adjustably secured as by set screws I06 to an oppositely disposed pair of slides I08. The slides I08 are mounted for movement in brackets IIO carried by lower rails H2 and H2 extending respectively generally parallel to and beneath the side rails I2 and I4 (see Fig. 1). At its inner end each of the slides I08 carries a bar IIB similar in cross-section to the bar 66 in Fig. 3 and each of the bars I I6 in turn has adjustably mounted on it a pair of jogging heads I I8 which may be identical to the jogging heads I2 described above.

Springs I20 may be provided on the links 83 if the particular driving mechanism used should require. The springs I20 are located between the bearings 94 and suitable collars I 22 fixed to the links 06. The springs I20 may be expansive 0r contractile as required, or may be omitted entirely in the event the particular driving mechanism is positive in both directions.

As stated above, the mechanism just described is designed to operate upon sheet material having locating notches so shaped as to conform to the working faces of the jogging heads I2, 90 and H8. To this end the head of the cutting and creasing press is provided with suitable knives for cutting one or more notches in opposed edges of the sheets simultaneously with the cutting and creasing of the blank or blanks therein. The mechanism shown in the drawings is preferred when the sheets are large and relatively limber as in the case of chipboard sheets having a large number of small box blanks cut therein. In such cases the provision of a plurality of jogging heads for cooperation with all four edges of the sheets is advisable. When relatively stiffer and/or smaller sheets are involved, it may be considered advisable to use only one jogging head for each edge of the sheet or to use one or more jogging heads for only two opposed edges of the sheet.

In Fig. 2 there'is shown theuppermost sheet I24 of a stack I26 of such sheets shown in side elevation in Fig. l. The sheet I24 has cut and scored into it a number of box-blank I28 and it will be understood that all of the sheets in the stack I26 have identical blanks therein. In order to assure that the blanks I28 will be brought into exact registry throughout the stack I28, each of the sheets has two V-shaped notches cut in each of the edges thereof. The sheet I24 is therefore provided with notches I30 in the rear edge for cooperation with'the jogging heads I2, notches I32 in the side edges for cooperation with jogging heads H8 and notches I34 in the forward edge for cooperation with the jogging heads 90. The notches I30, I32 and I34 are cut in the sheet I24 simultaneously with the cutting and creasing of the blanks I28 and it will be observed that the particular locations of the notches are selected with due regard to the layout of the blanks. In this connection it should be pointed out that the notches need not be arranged in precise symmetry, a generally sym metrical arrangement being all that is necessary. When a suitable blank layout and notch arrangement has been decided upon, the jogging heads 12, 90 and H8 are set in proper position by adjustments as described above.

The jogging heads I2 are set in such position that the notches I30 will fall approximately into registry therewith when the sheet I24 is delivered from the cutting and creasing press, the flared upper ends of the jogging heads being useful in this connection. The remaining jogging heads 90 and I I8 are set in such position that when they are projected to their innermost positions they as well as the jogging heads I2 will seat firmly in the corresponding notches.

When the cutting and creasing press is put into operation the connections described above, including the bell crank 56, will be effective to impart reciprocatory motion to the links 88 as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. This motion will be imparted directly to the jogging heads 90 and through the bell cranks 98 to the jogging heads H8. The frequency of reciprocation is a matter of choice but it is preferable that the movable jogging heads 90 and I I8 should be at least partially retracted as illustrated in Fig. 2 at the time a sheet I24 is delivered from the cutting and creasing press to the stacking device. Entirely satisfactory operation is eX- perienced if the movable jogging heads are reciprocated once for each delivery of a sheet I24.

In Figs. 3 and 4, a jogging head I2 is: shown in seated relationship with the notches I30 in the several upper sheets in the stack I26. It will be observed that the apices of the V-shaped notches I30 are in very accurate vertical alignment irrespective of misalignment of the edges which may exist as illustrated in exaggerated form in Fig. 3 at I 36. Repeated operation of the movable jogging heads and H8 serves to jog these uppermost sheets into such positions and by the time a given sheet has been lowered below the extended faces of the jogging heads it will have sufficient pressure exerted upon it by the sheets thereabove to be substantially" secure against further lateral movement.

A partially complete stack I26 of properly registered sheets is shown in Fig. 1 wherein the vertically aligned notches I32 may be observed.

I When. the: stack. 12h is built up to. desired height the-skid its is. lowered. and conveyed to a suitable; place for stripping of the. stack. The stripping operation is greatlyfacilitated and damage toblanks; is. almost entirely eliminated as a. result of the. accurate. registry of the. blanks.

themselves which is provided, in. accordance with the present invention. I V

The term notches and variations thereof, as. used herein and. in the. appended claims, is intended to include openings extending into or through sheet. material, without. regard, to configuration, and may be rt-shaped. rectangular. arcuate or otherwise. as desired.

Modifications and variations in detail may ocour to those: skilled. in the art, and since the present disclosure is illustrative rather than limiting, it is intended that. the invention shall include such modifications and variations as fall within the proper scope of the following.

claims. 1

I claim:

1;. In apparatus for handling successively presented sheets of paperboard having one or more box: blanks out andseored therein and having a plurality of v-shaped. notches cut out of opposed edges of said, sheets in accnrateaand uniform positional relationship with. said box blanks. means for stacking said sheets with corresponding box blanks in successive sheets in substantially'exact. register, said. means comprising a plurality of'vertioally elongated jogging members, the working portions of said jogging memberscomprising converging walls and being V-shaped in cross section to substantially conform to theshape of the notches cut in said sheets, and means for moving. at least some of said jogging members: relative to others of said jogging members and into and. out of the notches in said sheets substantially in rectilinear paths normal to the. edges of said sheets and. bisecting the angle between the: converging walls: of. the working portions of said'iogging members to move the successively presented sheets, if necessary, into acr 83 curate. vertical registry with respect; tothe notches; and; box: blanks. therein 2. In. apparatus for; handling: successively presented. sheets of paperboard. having one or more box: blanks cut. and scored. therein. and having a plurality of convergentswalleda notches out out of opposed edges of said; sheets in. accurate and uniform positional relationship with said box: blanks, means; for stacking said; sheets with. corresponding box blanks in. successive sheets insubstantially exact. register, said means comprising; a plurality of vertically elongated jogging members, the working: portions of said jo ing members. comprising converging, walls and being so shaped in cross section as. substantially to conform to the shape: of the notches cutin said. sheets, and means for moving at least some of said jogging members relativev to. others of: said jogging: members and; into. and out of the notches. in said sheets substantiallyin rectilinear paths normal to the edges. of said sheets. to move the successively presented sheets, if necessary, into accurate vertical registry with respect to the notches and box blanks; therein;

; THOMAS: TORONTO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in -the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Date 

